How It Works

EnergySage is the solar industry’s first and only online comparison-shopping marketplace for solar. We are backed by the U.S. Department of Energy and leading organizations as a straightforward way to help millions of Americans go solar. By using our platform, you can review detailed educational material, and engage with our team of Solar Advisors throughout your buying experience. Most importantly, EnergySage gives you the ability to easily receive and compare multiple solar quotes from our extensive network of over 500 pre-screened installers.

After you have signed up on EnergySage and set up your project profile, our team of Solar Advisors will review your property to ensure it’s a good fit for solar and check that your profile information is complete and accurate. We may contact you if we need any additional information.

EnergySage has an extensive network of over 400 pre-screened, high-quality solar installers who will compete for your business. Our rigorous screening process ensures that all our installers are licensed, insured, experienced, and have a reputation for delivering exceptional customer service. Because of our extensive coverage, you’re very likely to find several high-quality solar installers that are local to your property.

The EnergySage Solar Advisor team is made up of solar energy experts with backgrounds and training in solar panel technology, financing options, and installation best practices. They are a 100% free resource that we offer to our solar shoppers to assist in the solar buying experience.

This team can help:

• Answer your questions about solar
• Review your solar quotes with you
• Work with installers to ensure you receive all the information you need
• Support you in making the best decision for your property

Your electric bill provides detailed energy usage history and pricing information that is critical to helping solar installers design the right system for you. This information ensures that your new solar energy system will meet your annual electricity needs, and also allows EnergySage to accurately forecast the financial benefits you will receive from installing solar.

Most utilities allow you to download an electronic copy of your bill so you can then upload that to EnergySage. The complete bill with all the pages is ideal, including your usage in that month and also your history of usage over the last year.

If you don’t have an electronic version of your bill, you can scan it or take a picture with your smartphone and email it to [email protected]. You can also fax it to 509-352-1100.

If you cannot attach an electronic version of your bill, you can still enter your bill details to get started. This should include your last bill amount, kWh usage for that month and an estimate of your average monthly usage throughout the year, taking into account seasonal variation.

To get the best solar quotes possible, please complete the solar preferences section of your profile. These questions include various details like the type of financing you prefer (if any) or the age of your roof. You can specify if you’d like solar installers to be able to contact you via phone, or only EnergySage. Solar Advisors can call you to help move your project along.

You can easily communicate with installers through the EnergySage Message Center. This system allows you to keep your email address private and to organize all of your communications in one place. You should feel free to reach out to installers at any time with questions or to schedule a call or site visit. You can reply to installer messages directly from your email inbox and still keep your email address private, and you can send out a single message to all installers to save time!

Reviewing quotes

Interested solar installers will submit a quote through the EnergySage Solar Marketplace. You can review the quote in detail online and compare it with the other quotes you’ve received. Additionally, you can always speak with your Solar Advisor to help you review your options.

If a solar installer sends you a quote directly through email, mail or in person, please ask them to upload it to the EnergySage Marketplace. One of the key benefits of using the Marketplace is that it displays all of your quotes in an easy, apple-to-apples format, ensuring you make an informed decision.

Quotes can be updated

You can always ask the installers to revise and update their quote to your liking. For example, if you would like to have the installers use a specific panel brand, inverter type or quote a particular system size, just send them a message on the Message Center to let them know of your preferences so they can modify the quote accordingly.

One of most valuable features of EnergySage is the ability to easily compare quotes in our standardized side-by-side view.

Each quote contains a variety of important metrics to consider. Key aspects include the profile of the installer, the technology offered, solar energy production information, the warranties offered and the customer service mentality of the installer. In addition, EnergySage highlights many of the important financial metrics that you can use to evaluate each option, such as payback period. These metrics all have explanations to help you understand their importance, and you can always reach out to your Solar Advisor if you have any questions.

Make use of EnergySage’s quote comparison tool to fully understand the key differences between all your offers. You can examine system pricing, technology used, warranties offered, installer reviews, design differences and more. You can also compare each financing option to see which one offers the best overall value for you. People using EnergySage generally save 20% or more off the costs of installing solar simply by receiving multiple quotes, comparing them, and selecting the best value.

Every solar installer uses their own set of assumptions to calculate your costs and savings, which can make it difficult to evaluate different offers. The EnergySage Solar Marketplace uses a fixed set of assumptions for every quote so that you can make true apples-to-apples comparisons across all of your offers, including:

When you have decided which installer’s quote you would like to move forward with, you should select it by clicking “Select Installer”. Find it as a stand-alone button or under the “Next Steps” menu.

After you click “Select Installer”, you can review their quote details once more and then press the “Confirm” button to inform the winning installer. You'll still be able to work with the selected installer to finalize proposal details after this confirmation.

Now that you have selected your installer, they will take over as your main point of contact. Your next step is to sign a contract with your installer for your solar installation. The installer will apply for necessary permits and utility approvals and will work with you to complete any needed paperwork for rebates (if available) or other incentives. A typical residential solar installation may take 2-3 days, but commercial installations vary considerably in length, so ask your installer for details.

Have your voice heard! After your solar installation, we ask that you rate your solar installer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, and additionally write a review of your experience with them. We believe in the trust and honest communication that comes from transparency and clear conversations. Therefore, we ask for reviews that are truthful, clean, and helpful to both the company and other EnergySage shoppers.

You can easily create a case study of your solar installation that you can share with family and friends. This can include some pictures of your installation and any details you are willing to provide. The more details, the better, as this helps to inform more homeowners about the benefits of going solar!